The House of Representatives reopened the floor Tuesday by passing a rule to attach the Safeguard American Voter Eligibility (SAVE) America Act to an appropriations bill. The House shut down on June 30 after 13 House Republicans voted down a procedural vote to debate attaching the SAVE America Act to the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA). The chamber voted to debate four rules after holdouts, including Republican Florida Rep. Anna Paulina Luna, voted in favor of the procedural votes to debate several bills. Luna —Open
The Senate will hold the hearings before the August recess
The Senate scheduled several confirmation hearings starting Monday to confirm many of President Donald Trump’s nominees before the August recess. The Senate will move to confirm several nominees to serve in key positions, including the next director of national intelligence (DNI) and a new attorney general. Senate Republicans are hopeful they can fill the vacant government positions while time is running out. U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York Jay Clayton, Trump’s pick to be the permanent DNI, is expected to attend his confirmation hearing Wednesday. The Senate initially scheduled Clayton’s hearing for June 17 just days after Trump nominated him to replace former DNI Tulsi Gabbard, though the hearing was suddenly…Open
As the August recess approaches, the Senate is facing a consequential to-do list. The Hill's Alexander Bolton breaks down the chamber’s biggest priorities, including confirmation fights and FISA reauthorization. #senate #congress #democrats #republicans #fisa #trump #thehilleditorscall
President Trump trained elected Republicans to obey him, even when they disagreed. - Elected Republicans trained Trump to expect obedience, even as his demands grew impossible to satisfy. Why it matters: Years of Republicans submitting to Trump, often against their own judgment, have curdled into a rolling crisis as Washington nears the likely end of the GOP's two-year monopoly. The big picture: Trump has spent his second term steamrolling his own party, confident the lawmakers he humiliates will keep voting his way. You see it everywhere: - He canceled the signing of a landmark bipartisan housing bill just hours before the ceremony — trying to strong-arm the Senate into passing the SAVE America Act, a sweeping voter ID bill with no…
Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Markwayne Mullin will testify before a House Appropriations Committee panel on oversight of the agency. The hearing comes after months of turmoil between federal immigration enforcement officers and states over how DHS carries out President Trump’s robust deportation agenda. A federal judge on Tuesday also blocked the administration from making arrests at immigration courthouses, the first to bar the practice nationwide. Mullin has also weighed in on the lapse of spy powers authorized by Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA), claiming homeland security threats are at the “highest” level ever. #markwaynemullin #senate #homeland
Acting Director of National Intelligence Bill Pulte has initiated sweeping personnel changes at the Office of the Director of National Intelligence.
PULSE POINTS WHAT HAPPENED: Acting Director of National Intelligence (DNI) Bill Pulte has removed 51 staff members from the Office of the Director of National Intelligence (ODNI) since taking office, including six terminations and 45 employees returned to their home agencies. DETAIL: The cuts, which Pulte reportedly described as sufficient “for now,” follow a broader downsizing effort initiated under former DNI Tulsi Gabbard that reduced the agency’s workforce from about 2,000 employees toward a target of 1,300. President Donald J. Trump had urged Pulte to carry out an immediate reduction in staffing, arguing the agency had become overly bureaucratic. Supporters of the cuts, including Senate Intelligence Committee Chairman Sen.…Open
House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) and Republican leaders will brief reporters Wednesday morning, as lawmakers look to revive the nation's warrantless spying powers. Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) expired on June 12 after Democrats objected to President Trump’s appointment of Federal Housing Finance Agency Director Bill Pulte to serve as the acting director of national intelligence. Now, with the postponement of another nomination for the role to succeed Tulsi Gabbard, fate of the legislation remains murky. Ongoing negotiations between the U.S. and Iran and a slew of appropriations bills are also top of mind for the lower chamber. Trump will be on Capitol Hill Wednesday to sign the recently-passed…
